Easy Christmas dinner

[Santaclarita]

This may be my first time ever making Christmas dinner for just me and my partner. We may have to cancel it last minute though if my dad is working as I'm not letting my mum spend Christmas on her own.

But if we get to spend it together, anyone got any advice on making it easy to do? I'm not a great cook, although I can bake quite well, like cakes and stuff. I was thinking of making a chocolate log a few days beforehand and maybe some nice bread.

But the actual turkey and all the trimmings, I've got no idea. Don't want us to have food poisoning either obviously! Any advice?!

Have you ever cooked a roast dinner? That's all it is. If you haven't ever made roast potatoes or gravy then you've got 12 weeks or so to have a bit of a practice.

You can buy everything in trays from M&S and just bing it in the oven but I'm not sure how many their smallest sizes feed so you could end up with lots of leftovers.

My personal preference for a couple of guests would be to buy either a small turkey crown or a breast roast that comes in an oven ready foil tray. They will both have timings on the label. The breast will (probably) say a total cooking time like 'Cook for x minutes' and the crown will say 'Cook for x minutes per 100g' and you will need to work out a cooking time.

You might want different meat - a better cut of beef or a nice leg of lamb.

Decide what time you want to eat and work backwards.

Say eat at 2. Meat is best with a bit of resting time before you carve it so aim to take it out of the oven 30 minutes before (so 1:30 in this example) and wrap in foil and cover with a tea towel to keep it warm.

Roasties take about an hour. Put oil/goose fat in your roasting pan and put in the oven to heat up while you parboil your spuds. Parboil the potatoes for 5-10 minutes, drain and give them a bit of a shake. Tip them into hot oil. I turn mine halfway through.

I do roasted carrots and parsnips in the same way as the spuds except they go in the oil without parboiling. Finish with a squeeze of honey.

I also do sprouts (microwaveable bag) but I finish them off in a Sauté pan with a bit of butter and some pancetta.

DH likes peas too but he's a heathen

Pigs in blankets are bought ready made and cooked according to the packet.

I make my own stuffing but Paxo is great or the supermarket will have some ready made.

Jamie Oliver's make ahead gravy is supposed to be brilliant but I don't like it and make my own. If you don't want to or don't feel confident then granules are fine and easy to use.

Christmas pudding goes in the microwave as per the instructions on the packet.

Don't stress. Cook the bits you like and are happy making and ditch everything else. I've made Christmas dinner for the last 30 years. It doesn't scare me now but I don't do elaborate side dishes as my family don't like bread sauce and red cabbage etc.

I would get a rolled stuffed turkey thing for 2-3. I think the most stressful thing about Christmas Dinner (or any roast!) is getting off all ready at the same time so for stress free, keep as simple as possible - boiled potatoes maybe? With stuffed turkey, veg and maybe sausages in bacon. Yum. is what I would do if my mil would let me

When it was just me and DH, we did the following:

• Pouissin - one each. You just tuck them into a baking dish and bake, Nigella and Diana Henry both have lovely recipes

• Potato dauphinois - can be made in advance and less mess than roasties

• Red cabbage - again, make it in advance

• Green beans

• Roasted carrots

The pouissin, potatoes, carrots and cabbage can all be cooked or warmed up in the oven, only the beans need to be done on the stove top. This scales up easily as well if you need to add people

Smoked salmon for starter, chocolate log for pudding.

And gravy. I'm not a heathen.

www.cookfood.net

I’d buy it from cook if it was just 2 or 3 of us if I’m honest. And I like cooking!

Thanks everyone. I am gonna start practicing making roast tatties, and if I fail badly might just commit a sin and buy them.

Never made a Sunday dinner before. I'm really not a great cook, more like a 'throw it in the oven and hope for the best' kind of cook.

Can't have lamb as he hates lamb, and I'm not fond of beef so it will have to be turkey. I'm considering doing his family tradition of pancake soup for starter. I prefer prawn cocktail, but the pancake soup is really nice. The recipe I found didnt look too difficult.. Famous last words.

One very good tip I’ve read when it comes to Christmas dinner for 2 or 3 people, is people get hung up on the turkey, but actually it’s really the sides that make it. So I’d get a chicken, or a couple of poussin, and then all the trimmings to go with it.

Actually goose would be a great option. It’s like a more flavourful version of turkey, is perfect for novice roasting cooks because it’s so fatty that it’s fool proof, plus it’s not too much meat - it would probably do for Christmas dinner, plus leftovers for sandwiches on Boxing Day, but likely not more than that. Mmmmm I love goose...

Honestly, M&S roast potatoes are very good indeed. You can also make gravy ahead of time, freeze it, defrost and heat through on the day. Add any meat juices in for extra flavour. I base mine very loosely on Jamie Oliver's recipe. I don't like his original recipe but the basic idea is good.

Oooh. Actually, duck would be good. And you would get amazing leftovers!

Sorry, but what is pancake soup? Intrigued...

Pancake is literally pancakes in a broth. There's recipes online. I think it's Austrian, at least that's where his family is from. It sounds really weird but it's actually quite nice.

We're doing roast chicken here for me and the kids. No point having a massive joint.

I've always cooked Christmas lunch for large numbers.
If I was going it for less than six diners I think that tbh I'd "cheat" and go the luxurious route of some pre prepared food, marks and Spencer's style, though whichever supermarket you choose they'd have options. It will a) be more treat like b) less washing up as disposable containers c) be quicker

However if you want to do the "real deal" then in essence it's a more elaborate roast. Cooking the meat beforehand can alleviate issues on the day. The rest is opting for how extensive and impressively you wish to cook- steamed veg is obviously easy but there's a host of variations you could opt for....

Do you definitely want turkey etc?

For just two of us (I'm veggie), I'd get dp a poussin and me a big mushroom to stuff with Stilton and walnuts.

Tray of roasted potatoes, parsnips, onions and carrots all done together.

Stuffing (Paxo) - with leftovers to have in sarnies for supper

Sprouts
Red cabbage (M&S)
Gravy (Bisto)

Christmas pud (a really good one but not too big) with cream or with brandy sauce (bought from M&S or Waitrose).

I would like a turkey but I'm liking the ideas of the pre done stuff that I just throw in the oven too so unsure now. Would be easier than a turkey no doubt to have chicken instead.

If money isn't a problem, M&S usually do a small turkey already stuffed with bacon on top, in a roasting tray all ready to go straight in the oven. You can buy ready made turkey gravy from M&S, though it's really not at all difficult to make your own.

You can leave the cooked turkey to rest, wrapped in foil with a tea towel on top, to keep hot for an hour before serving, which gives you plenty of time to cook the veggies.

Your best bet IMO is to find a cook book such as Delia's that's just for Christmas, or one that has a good Christmas section, and work out your timings backwards from when you plan to sit down at the table. If you're not sure how to make good roast potatoes, etc., a book like that will tell you exactly how to parboil them first, etc.

I would def. keep it simple - not too many different veg or side dishes. If there won't be many of you, a lot of people like just a turkey crown instead of the whole bird - again I think you can get them all ready to go from M&S.

Christmas dinner really isn't such a big deal, only you do need to be organised and do as much advance prep as possible - or buy ready made.

One year I bought one of the three bird roasts from Lidl for about £10 as a back up, as I wasn't sure how many guests were coming. They are frozen. I didn't need it on the day and ended up cooking it for the 4 of us on NYD. I was surprised how good it was and how easy. One of these would be ideal if you may have to cancel, as you can just get it out of the freezer when needed.